Riding with Ravens

Ride down the steps

I talked to a rider today at a swap meet in Prescott Az who thought this drawing wouyld make a good tattoo- I'm down with that-

Javelina ride

Something fishy goin' on

These are band saw cut sculpture with carved watery wood bases, they vary in size from 6" to 20", some are multiples and some are swimming up stream by themselves. These guys have a band saw texture that has been buffed and feels bumpy and smooth at the same time. This really shows the tool use and craftsman's work. I have a few of these fish sculptures for sale, I can put them in a box and swim to you! Email me! Thanks- Phil

Snake ride

Skull ride

Mod chair

What do you do with a left over veneer form? Make a chair!

Budhha cabinet

This cabinet is a traveling altar. Its made of cherry, has drawers inside for altar stuff , and has a very nice frame and panel detail on the doors, sort of a flower corner if you will. The pulls and handles are carved and feel really nice.

Time for another ride

Time for a ride

These rides in Sedona are very picturesque....
pencil drawing 18" by 24"

After a year of work

Thank you! To D& C this project was a trip worth taking!

A year of work? Well part time anyway but the effort was monumental and the clients were brave and patient, the project was demanding, and I feel I achieved a great level of perfection for the budget!
It was all taken in stride of course, its what I do and how I do it!

This kitchen is the center of the entire home, radiating out from this space and taking you for a circular ride, the flow is great, jump on!

Wood has many looks and this veneer pairing of curly maple and mahogany is subtle, flowing, colorful, rich, and really cool all at the same time.

If you get right down to it, unique work takes skill and trust, you got to have both because they feed each other and work together.

Spread out

For this job I am using a precatalyzed lacquer and an HVLP system.
Final look over before finish.

Final fit

The parts and grain line up. once fit, I'll mark them so they go back in the right spot during final install.

Parts puzzle

I have the doors and parts trimmed now and I can use my templates to check the sizes.
Hinges and door fitting

Whats that??

ZZZZZZZZZ, bbbburrrrrrrrrrrr, wwwhhhiiizzzzzzzzzzzz......... trimming the edges, prep for sanding.

Pressing matters

Once the veneers are jointed and edge taped into their layout for each door- I'm ready to glue the veneer to the curved and edged door substrate.
I like to use rollers to apply an even glue surface- too much glue and I will have a lot of leak through that needs to be sanded- this adds time and risks sand through, so even is best, too light and I risk bad adhesion..........watch it! roll it! lay it on there, cover with properly sized glue resistant covers, and bag it! Is it lined up? Is it slid over too far? Will it get pressed firmly? Is my system ok, no holes, good machine......normal press time is 30 mins but with he curves and my desire for good sticky I'll leave them in for 1 hour each press cycle.

Smart choices

This Santos is nice- it sands well, is pretty wide and clear, pretty flat. There are a lot of choices for veneers and variety in working quality - the burls and highly figured woods are more time consuming to work, this wood has good working properties and matches the budget.

Cut for parts

I'll take the veneer sheets and slice them in sequence for each door or drawer bank thats taped with a little masking tape and marked for location: front door and drawer for island, front surface, back surface. I am going to need enough for twice the overall surface area because each door gets veneer front and back for structural balance. One of the overall woodworking rules is to treat both sides of a board the same, same sanding, same finish, same air flow while stacked and so on, this keeps wood stable. Veneered doors are no exception, so I balance the layers of veneer and hopefully the door will stay flat and true.

Sheets

The veneer comes in a stack of slices from the same board- its my job to sort it out and create a pattern for the grain as it relates to the whole job- in this case we are using three widths of veneer book matched and oriented to be horizontal throughout the kitchen. Each door and section of cabinet needs to be in sequence to the overall pattern and layout- this requires a little planning and organization.

Adventures with veneer

Back on the curved kitchen job- I wanted to walk through the process of each door to show how these parts are made- here we go!

This is the species of veneer I am using:
Santos mahogany veneer-

Myroxylon is a genus of two species of Central American and South American trees in the Fabaceae (Leguminosae). The tree is well known in the western world as the source for Peru balsam and Tolu balsam. The tree is often called Quina or Balsamo. Other names include Tolu in Colombia, Quina quina in Argentina; in lumber trade, sometimes named Santos Mahogany.

Its sweetish scent, reminiscent of vanilla and green olives, has caused it to be used in the manufacture of perfumes as a source for Balsam. Balsam of Peru is used as a flavoring and fragrance in many products and can cause allergic reactions.^[2]

They are large trees growing to 40 m tall, with evergreen pinnate leaves 15 cm long with 5-13 leaflets. The flowers are white with yellow stamens, produced in racemes. The fruit is a pod 7–11 cm long, containing a single seed.^[3]

The wood is dark brown with a deep red heartwood. Natural oils grant it excellent decay resistance. In fact, it is also resistant to preservative treatment. Its specific gravity is 0.74 to 0.81.

As regards woodworking, this tree is regarded as moderately difficult to work but can be finished with a high natural polish; some tool dulling.